Skin
by Watanuki-sama
Summary: With nothing but a sliver of skin to guide him, can Watanuki find his soulmate?
1. Chapter 1

Everyone was born with one; a birthmark in some odd shape, the mirror image of which resides on someone else. The person destined to be your soulmate. It could be a stranger that lived thousands of miles away and it could be a best friend. Watanuki's rested on the curve of his right foot, not easily visible unless one was trying to look. The mark looked something like a feather, or maybe a leaf, and was only a few shades darker than his pale skin. He found himself staring at it more often after his parents' demise, hoping he wouldn't be alone like this forever, that he wouldn't have to look after himself for the rest of his life. As he grew the hope faded, though he still kept on a smile. He persevered and got through each day, no matter how grueling or full of spirits it may be. It was one of these spirit-filled days that he unknowingly found his other half. And he loathed him.

Watanuki rarely hated anyone, but a mere glance at Doumeki's face could send him into a fit of rage, somehow managing to push his buttons in all the wrong ways. He loathed that he was forced to spend time with Doumeki and being around Himawari was barely worth it.

"Hey," Doumeki said, not even bothering to look at Watanuki.

The sound of Doumeki's voice coupled with his stoic expression and the fact he didn't even look at Watanuki as he spoke made his ire rise for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "My name is _not_ hey! And I shouldn't even bother responding to you if you don't even have the manners to look up when you speak!" Watanuki had started flailing about in a ridiculous manner as he spoke, glaring daggers at Doumeki's audacity to be so rude.

Doumeki just plugged his ears, bored expression on his face as usual. "Make manju for lunch tomorrow."

At this Watanuki gave him an incredulous look. "You can't have just manju for lunch!" He was flailing again and as a second thought he added, "And you can't expect me to cook whatever you want! I'm not your personal chef, you know!"

Doumeki looked entirely unaffected by the volume of the teen. "Then make onigiri too."

Himawari let out a soft giggle that had Watanuki practically swooning as she spoke. "You two are so funny together!" With a smile, she turned to Watanuki. "Onigiri and manju sounds like a good plan for tomorrow, Watanuki."

A dreamy smile on his face, Watanuki nods and agrees all too willingly. "Of course! Anything for you, Himawari." The next second he assaults Doumeki with a seething glare. "If it weren't for sweet Himawari you wouldn't even be getting lunch, you big oaf!"

Doumeki just shrugs and continues eating his lunch, letting out a noncommittal "Hm." in response to all of Watanuki's ranting.

Soon lunch was over and the trio parted ways, Watanuki happily getting away from Doumeki, though not really looking forward to being in class. He had to admit, though grudgingly, that being around the idiotic oaf helped keep the spirits at bay, which also meant that the near constant calls of "freak" and "weirdo" were kept at bay as well. No matter, he would endure like he did most days and when the day was over he would breathe a sigh of relief and rush home alone, spirits hot on his trail. Unfortunately, today was different from most as Doumeki didn't have archery practice. This meant that Watanuki was forced to walk with him in silence. This lasted all of two minutes before Watanuki exploded. "Augh! Why do you have to be so damned quiet all the time? Don't you know that it's rude to ignore people?" After a few beats of silence he spoke again, "Hey! What did I just say about-"

Doumeki interjected, one finger plugging the ear closest to Watanuki. "Too loud."

As soon as Watanuki was about to respond Doumeki turned, heading toward his family's temple and leaving Watanuki alone and more susceptible to spirits. It would be his luck that just as he was out of Doumeki's line of sight that spirits would swarm and attempt to devour him. Running as fast as he could, he made it home just as one of the big black and purple masses caught his left ankle, leaving a small scratch in it's wake before he stepped inside the safety of the wards he'd set up. He sighed and sat went to his bathroom to get some bandages because while the wound wasn't serious in any way, he's found that gashes made by spirits got infected easily. As soon as he finished bandaging his ankle he went to make food for his dinner as well as the food for Himawari, reluctantly including Doumeki's portion in as well.

Hours later, after doing homework and finishing all of his cooking, he sat down on his very small bed, sighing wistfully as he looked down at his foot, more specifically the mark that resided there. He wasn't generally one for getting his hopes too high up because he'd learned at a young age that doing that just sends them crashing back down, but he really did hope that Himawari was his destined one. He had surreptitiously searched the visible parts of her body, unable to find any abnormalities in skin tone whatsoever. While that fact often dampened his mood, it didn't make him lose hope completely, after all, his was practically invisible. Most people's were in very not obvious areas. Watanuki guessed it was because you weren't meant to find your soulmate that easily. Some never even found theirs at all and every once in a while Watanuki thinks he must be one of those people. He doesn't really have much to offer and can't see why anyone would ever fall in love with him. He could hope though, despite his fears and doubts. He had nothing if he didn't have hope. Yawning widely, he decides to stop all of this contemplating, knowing that it would do little to help and would likely make him depressed. He lays down and falls into a deep, dreamless sleep.

AN: Hello! I'm not exactly sure how to format seeing as this is my first story. There aren't nearly enough fanfictions for this fandom (and even less for this pairing) and i decided I should remedy that. I avoided writing for a long time and am very new to it so please be gentle in reviewing. (Also please actually review. My self esteem levels are in the negative and if nobody reads this I won't feel very inclined to write) If you want my tumblr or somethin' just message me I guess? Thank you for takin' the time to read this!


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Watanuki wakes up later than normal, feeling oddly groggy. He figures it probably has something to do with the fact he stayed up so late the night before and after simply staring at his ceiling for a minute he gets out of bed, wincing as the cut on his ankle gives a painful twinge. After a few minutes of scrambling around to get ready the pain becomes more of an annoyance than anything, a fact he's immensely grateful for.

By the time he gets out the door there's only about fifteen minutes before school starts and he has to run to make it in time, irritating his ankle even more. As he's running by the temple he spots Doumeki and immediately scowls, picking up his pace as much as he could in his slightly injured state. He gets nothing for his efforts to avoid talking to the idiot and he swears the universe loves to make things difficult for him.

Doumeki's eyes narrow as he sees how Watanuki is favoring his right foot. "Hey," he said, and the hint of concern would be obvious to anyone who knew him well enough. "What did you do?"

Watanuki grudgingly slows down as he realizes that the manners that have been ingrained in his head wouldn't allow him to ignore Doumeki, no matter how much he wanted to so with a look that suggested he wanted nothing more than to make the taller teen go away and never come back he asked, "What are you talking about?" The annoyance in his tone was obvious. "And why the hell do you care?"

Doumeki just rolled his eyes at the predictable reaction. "Your foot, idiot."

Watanuki masks his confusion at Doumeki's concern by flailing around in his usual manner and turning back to glare at the stoic teen. "It's none of your business!"

Doumeki merely persists. "What did you do?"

With an exasperated sigh, Watanuki answers, figuring that the refusal to do so wouldn't get him anywhere but driven up a wall in annoyance. "If you imust/i know, I didn't do anything."

Realization dawns on Doumeki's face and really, he should've figured it out earlier. "It was a spirit."

"Of course it was a spirit!" Watanuki looks at Doumeki like he's an idiot for not realizing that sooner. Spirits were almost always the source of any injury Watanuki ever got.

"How often do spirits attack you?" Doumeki stopped walking, waiting to hear the answer.

Watanuki gives him a puzzled look, wondering why the archer would even care about his wellbeing. "What?"

"Are you an idiot?" Doumeki says it like he's already made up his mind that Watanuki is indeed an idiot. "I said, 'how often do spirits attack you?'"

The bespectacled teen was so taken aback he didn't even yell at the other for calling him an idiot. "Every day." The answer is quietly and somewhat hesitantly spoken.

Doumeki just nods and continues walking until they get to school, each going their separate ways for the first class of the day.

The first four periods of school happen as usual, uneventful, boring, and with a few snide remarks thrown at Watanuki and he's happy when he finally gets to go outside for lunch. He isn't so happy when Doumeki demands his food and is even less happy when he takes some of Watanuki's own, albeit uneaten, food. "You can't just go around stealing my food! Especially when I took the time to make yours!"

Doumeki just gives him an unimpressed look. "You weren't eating it, were you?"

"Agh!" Watanuki pulls what's left of his lunch behind himself as Doumeki reaches for another bite. "That isn't the point! It's impolite!" He heaves an exasperated sigh. "Besides, I even packed you extra. Is your stomach some kind of infinite void?" Doumeki doesn't respond, reaching around Watanuki to grab the rest of his lunch. This doesn't go over particularly well as Watanuki scrambles to try and prevent him from getting anything and in the process of doing so somehow manages to get Doumeki way closer than Watanuki ever wanted him. In the end, the whole struggle ended with Watanuki fuming, Himawari laughing, and Doumeki with more food, a fact that Watanuki proceeds to yell about until lunch is over.

Watanuki's next couple of classes were uneventful. They went on slowly until finally the last class of the day was starting. He was hunched over his work when he felt something brush his leg and stiffened because he knew that feeling all too well. He raises his hand to be excused and as soon as he is he stumbles out of the classroom, spirit chasing him down. He was beginning to slow as the spirit advanced and it felt like he was beginning to suffocate. Leaning against a wall and sliding down it he tries to get more air, attempting to take deep breaths and to calm down because panicking would only make him run out of breath faster. Luckily someone heard the noise he was making and right as he was sure he'd pass out from lack of oxygen arms wrapped around him and lifted him up. The spirit disappeared with an unearthly hiss and while he couldn't see who was carrying him due to his eyes being closed, he had a hunch. "Put me down." The command was weak and he knew it. Doumeki knew it too.

"No." Watanuki looked like he was dying earlier and that struck a chord in Doumeki. No matter how annoying the guy was, Doumeki didn't want him dead. In fact, he would be happy if Watanuki stayed alive and in one piece. "I'm taking you home." He begins walking away from the school, enduring Watanuki's complaints to put him down the whole way there. He only set the shorter teen down for his key. After a brief argument Watanuki gives in, grumbling under his breath about how rude Doumeki is.

The afternoon passes by and when it reaches seven Watanuki can barely take Doumeki's presence anymore. "Are you ever going to go home or are you just going to stay here and leech off of me?" It's not like he really has much to offer but food and right now he's pretty much out.

"Your wards are worn out. I'm staying until you get new ones." He said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Watanuki sputtered, looking at Doumeki like he was crazy. "That's for me to decide, and I decide no!"

"They'll kill you. Do you want to die?" Doumeki stares at him.

Watanuki looks away after a few seconds of staring back, unable to take it. "I-" He sighs. "No."

Doumeki looks satisfied, plopping down on Watanuki's couch. "Good." He grabs a blanket at the foot of the couch and covers up. "Turn off the light."

Watanuki opens his mouth to protest but just sighs, doing as he says. He turns around as he's heading to his room "Goodnight, idiot."

AN: Hello once again readers! (wow that was lame) um I'd like to dedicate this chapter to 2 people. One is my friend ash () who's always here for me b/c ive had a shit week. And the other is my friend Jaqi, who is going to kill me when she finds out that this is actually my story. I think you can tell I got pretty lazy near the end of this but overall im ok with it. I reached my word goal so...


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